Description

A popular route. Both pitches are long and with widely spaced bolts which makes it feel less like a sport climb. It is possible to supplement the bolts by placing large cams in some of the "holes", but this hardly feels necessary. The 2nd pitch traverses right to within 15' of the tree in the corner, before going straight up the steep headwall (crux).The entire climb is steep climbing up huge huecos. Pumpy, but not technically difficult.

The good exposure and stinginess of bolts are what make this climb exciting. Take it for what it is.

Location

The obvious pock-marked face immediately left of the large tree-topped corner.

Pitch one is 9+. Put cam on ramp start and another large cam at start of steep headwall. A #3 Camalot doesn't fit great and neather does a #2. Ten feet up is bolt one. Hard clip stance. The rest of pitch is steady 5.9 climbing. Don't push your luck. A leader should be solid 10 to try this one. I saw a terrible accident in 1998. A guy fell just trying to clip bolt 2. He fell 80 feet to the ramp. Blood all over. A National Guard chopper landed and took him away. Never found out if he lived. Pitch two also runout and is solid 10a. Awesome climb. A must climb at Hueco. The original pitch one had only one bolt half way. Megga Classic climb. Watch out for bird S@@t on pitch two. Some nice huecos are slimbed up. I seconded the climb three times and would do it any day.

With all due respect Larry, you must have been having a heavy gravity day. Protection is adequate for the angle and the available holds. I would venture to say that any 5.8 leader with a fairly solid lead head can float this thing. All buckets, all the time, and maybe not a loose hold on it.

Pitch lengths are a bit off too: First Pitch: After going up the 3rd class ramp, there is probably 125ft of climbing max. Second Pitch: Maybe 115ft of climbing. We had an 84m rope and it went top to bottom with 30ft to spare.

P1 is easy enough to follow the bolts. P2 on the other hand is a bit tricker. There are so many holds and so far between the bolt line it is easy to get off track.

P2 directly right of the anchor 4 feet is a mystery bolt that is not needed . I did note in my guide to head right towards the tree route after the 3rd bolt (p2) using the varnished well huecoed rock to find the 4th bolt.

The single bolt anchor can be supplimented with 1 1/2- 2" cams. Look to create a small directional to keep the cord from running over small rocks that would bomb the people below.

Thank you both for the summit belay back-up and big hex beta. I also added some C4 beta to the photo captioned: "Susan starting the first pitch".

Normally I'd just cut and run between the bolts on the Front Side. After hearing about the bolt on Desperado, finding back-up gear is worth the effort.

PS: I thought the theory was that the hard moves to the first bolt test the leader. If we feel good and solid after clipping the first bolt, then the rest of the route will be fun too. I wonder if the person who fell was not feeling solid but pushed on anyway?

PPS: Russ is right about the 5.7 & 5.8. Hueco is one of the rare crags where the locals uprated the hairy leads for the saftey of others.

Any comments on the reliability of the bolts on this route? When I climbed it, a few of them looked a lot like bolts I have seen pictures of saying they were recalled. I guess as always, the best option is just to not fall.

Onsight soloed back in Fall 2010, then soloed about six more laps on it Spring 2011. Quite possibly my favorite 5.10a in the universe, it's exactly what the name implies and just keeps you wanting more! Can't really comment on the protection, still haven't roped up on it.